Happy New Year!

In Japan, it is a tradition to send New Year's cards. They are delivered in a packet on New Year's morning. Here is our card for this year.

It reads:
あけましておめでとうございます　Happy New Year

新春を迎え皆様の御健康と御多幸をお祈り申し上げます　As we welcome the new spring, we're praying for everyone's happiness and health.

二〇一三年元旦 　New year's morning, 2013

December Newsletter

Seasons
Keith and Celia Olson
Newsletter #20

Dear Friends and Family,

We have news! The arrangements have been finalized and announced, and we are now free to tell our friends and family that we’ve been designated to Wakaba Church in the city of Ishikari after our graduation from language school (see map). We will finish school the end of January, move to Ishikari (30 minutes north of our current home), and start at Wakaba Church in early March.

 

Wakaba Church

The last two months have been very busy. We had a 2 ½ week visit from Celia’s parents in October; during that time Celia’s dad joined us for a concert of German Baroque music and we all went on vacation to Daisetsuzan National Park to enjoy some fall colors. At the end of October, Celia went on a relief work trip to Iwate prefecture with her shamisen teacher, Tomiko Arai and other members of Tonden Church where Tomiko attends. Celia and her teacher were able to present 2 shamisen mini-concerts as well as participating in other relief activities with the team. After that it was time to prepare for Christmas concerts, study for a major Japanese exam, and keep working on our remaining language school coursework, preparing us to lead Bible studies and write talks and sermons.

Daisetsuzan National Park

October concert with Baroque Collegium Sapporo

Shamisen Mini-concert

Keith in class with Yoshimura-sensei

Already two Christmas concerts are over; on November 23 Celia and pianist, Shino Inoue played at Sakae church’s quilt exhibition. The second concert, on November 24, was at Wakaba church. The concert at Wakaba went well; about 80 people came, including many guests invited by church members. Celia played both cello and viola da gamba together with Shino on piano and harpsichord. Celia also presented a Christmas message which included her testimony--first time to give an evangelistic talk in Japanese! As with each concert we perform, we pray that God will work in the hearts of each person who attended. In this sort of ministry, we usually do not see the fruit of our labours, but this time we will have the privilege of getting to know the people who were in the audience!

After our concert at Wakaba Church with Pastor and Mrs. Takahashi and Shino

Performing Bach's First Sonata

 ***

Introducing Wakaba Church

Wakaba Church started 31 years ago (Celia was about 2 months old at the time) and has been pastored by many missionary colleagues whom we love and respect. Currently Wakaba Church is pastored by Hideyuki Takahashi, which means this will be our third consecutive church pastored by a Takahashi-sensei.

Since Wakaba church is near Sapporo, we hope to be able to keep up with our contacts and continue our involvement in our various music pursuits, although we will have to scale back to give priority to our training at Wakaba. At this stage we cannot be entirely certain what we will be doing, but as we work with the church, our roles will solidify. Keith will have opportunities to preach, and Celia will get some hands on training in music ministry. We are excited to be under a pastor who has an interest in training missionaries and is willing to put in the time and effort necessary to explain how church in Japan functions. Our training will likely include a fair bit of “shadowing,” which is a typical Japanese training method. This means we will accompany the pastor to church meetings, prayer groups, etc., see the church from his perspective, and learn through listening and watching.

From now on, please include Wakaba church and the Takahashi family in your prayers. We will keep you up to date on prayer needs there from March. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu-- we’re depending on your support in prayer!
***

A little story of God’s grace: a buzzing cello can also be a gift from God.

Over the last six months or so, I (Celia) have been reading the Gospel of John in various contexts. I’ve read it at school in Japanese, together with the other missionary women in English, and alone during my quiet time. One thing that has struck me is the way the author returns again and again to the themes of God being revealed in Jesus, and Jesus revealed in people’s stories about their experiences with him.

In preparing for Christmas concert talks, I felt that God wanted me to tell stories which pointed to Jesus. I decided on a three-part talk with music in between, telling the story of Advent (God’s people waiting for a saviour), then Christmas, and then my testimony, focusing on the way the Incarnation of Jesus has affected my life. But God isn’t only present in the big things of life. I want to tell a story of how God did something small and it made a big difference.

As I was practicing my cello in preparation for Christmas concerts, I noticed a buzzing sound. It’s not really unusual for such things to happen in the winter, but annoyingly, I had been to the shop two days before to have my bow re-haired. I gritted my teeth, finished my practice session, and prayed that the buzzing sound would be gone in the morning.

It wasn’t. After class, I rushed off to the shop again, except the shop was having a special exhibit in a different location, and I got terribly lost trying to find it. (Who would have thought that Sapporo Station would have two Exit #8’s on opposite sides of the station?)

I opened my case and pulled out my cello. The man in charge of repairs took one look at my cello and said, “Your bridge is too tall. You might want to think about having it replaced.” I smiled and thanked him for his concern, but explained that I didn’t think it would be a good idea a week before a concert. He quickly found the source of the buzzing sound and I arranged to come back to pick up my cello the next day.

When I came back, I found that the buzzing was gone, and my cello generally sounded much better. I had some time, so I decided to try some of the instruments on display. First was a cello from in Nagoya, completed this spring. I noticed how easy it was to play--I could easily press my fingers all the way down to the fingerboard even in the difficult Schubert sonata I’ve been working on. Next I played a cello attributed to Stradivarius; exciting, of course, but what really impressed me was that I could play both of the cellos easily and without pain. The repairman was right. My bridge was too tall. I hadn’t played anyone else’s cello for years, so I didn’t even notice. I requested a new bridge and arranged to pick up my cello the next day.

When I went back the second time, I was nervous. However, when I started to play, it felt like my cello had been cured of a head cold. The new sound was clear and sweet, and I could play with much less effort than before. I never would have found out if my cello hadn’t suddenly started buzzing. Praise God for buzzing cellos!
***

Prayer Points

• We thank God for the time we were able to spend with Celia's parents and for the concert we had with them in October. We also thank God that Celia's recent concerts have gone well (Nov. 23rd and 24th), one of which was at Wakaba church, which is where we have been designated after we graduate in February next year.
• After buying our car 3 months ago, we finally registered the car under our own name. We are thankful to have this ongoing stress off our shoulders.
• Please pray for Japan churches as they start their Christmas evangelism. Many Christians in Japan say they had their first contact with the Gospel during the Christmas season. Celia has three more Christmas concerts (Dec. 8th, 15th, and 24th) and Keith will be singing with Sapporo Symphony's Choir (Dec. 8th and 9th). May these concerts point people to the meaning of Christmas.
• Last week we heard from the landlord that someone was complaining about the noisy cello. We have been attempting to apologize to our various neighbours and then asking them when a suitable time to practice is, but most people do not answer their doors. Please pray for Celia right now as she has the added stress of hauling her instruments around to different places to practice.
• Keith will preach his first sermon in Japanese on Dec. 30 at Kitahiroshima Church (where we are currently attending) on Revelation 21:1-8. Please pray for his preparation to be led by the Spirit and his delivery to be an encouragement to the church.

***

This Christmas, may each of you experience the deep love of God shown through the birth, life, death, and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Love in Christ, Keith and Celia

Winter Concerts

It's that time of year! Shino Inoue and I are busy preparing for Christmas concerts. Here's some information if you want to come. Or if you can't come, you can still pray for us. :)

クリスマス・コンサートの為に一生懸命練習しています。　どうぞ来て下さい！　

Our profile picture! And no, we will not be playing concerts wearing kimono. The cello makes that a little difficult.

Sakae Church Quilt Exhibition, Mini-Concert
Friday, November 23, 2:00 p.m.
Program: Bach, Viola da Gamba Sonata no. 1
Location:　栄福音キリスト教会
(This is a fun event. I did a mini-concert at the same event 3 years ago and brought a couple of friends.)

Wakaba Church Christmas Concert
Saturday, November 24, 2:00 p.m.
Program: Schumann, Fantasiestücke; Bach, Viola da Gamba Sonata no. 1; Schubert, Arpeggione Sonata
Tickets: ￥500
Location: 若葉福音キリスト教会、石狩市花畔2条1-81-1

Nanae Church Christmas Concert
Saturday, December 8, 3:00 p.m.
Program: Classical Cello and Piano repertoire (TBA); the shamisen will also make an appearance!
Location:　七飯福音キリスト教会、北海道亀田郡七飯町本町6丁目7-26

Tonden Church Christmas Concert
Saturday, December 15, 2:00 p.m.
Program: Classical Cello and Piano repertoire (TBA)
Tickets: ￥500 
Location:　屯田福音キリスト教会、札幌市北区屯田6条10-2-23

Immanuel Church Christmas Eve Service and Concert
Monday, December 24, 6:30 p.m.
Program: Classical Cello and Piano repertoire (TBA)
Location:　インマヌエル札幌キリスト教会

Toei Church concert, March 2010

Not a Christmas concert, but... it's happening in winter:

フェリーチェ楽友会 Concert
Saturday, January 19, 2013, 4:30 p.m.
Program: Many local musicians will be participating; our part of the program will be a Beethoven trio for piano, clarinet and cello. Shino and I will be joined by Yuuichi Saitou.
Tickets: ￥1000 (Contact me to purchase tickets)
Location: 札幌サンプラザホール


Keith's corner: 
Keith will be performing Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Sapporo Symphony Chorus on December 8-9. Contact us for more information.

Autumn

Have I mentioned lately that I love Hokkaido? The people, the food, the scenery... there's just so much to love. Right now it's autumn, and the view from our apartment is mountains covered with orange trees... the larches are starting to turn!

Recently we had family vacation to Daisetsuzan National Park with my parents; I recently changed our background picture to a photo from that trip. Here are a few favorites:

I love Hokkaido... and Hokkaido's trees!

With the family in Tenninkyo (天人峡)

The yellow trees are Katsura, one of my new favorite trees!

On the other side of the park at Sounkyo (層雲峡)

I love the mixture of color and texture in a Hokkaido hillside!

Snow has already come to higher elevations! In the background is Asahidake (旭岳), the highest point in Hokkaido. Mom has big plans to come back for more hiking in the summer!

Husband and Wife lakes. (I am not making this up.)

I also went to Iwate prefecture in Honshu for relief work last weekend, and we had a chance on Sunday afternoon to visit some beautiful places. The area in which OMF is working (Miyako, Yamada, and Kamaishi) is in and around the Rikuchū Kaigan National Park. Our colleagues there have lots of hiking options for their days off. :)

Coastal red pines are some of my favorite trees!

October Newsletter

Seasons
Newsletter #19

Dear Friends and Family,

We have a lot of news to share, but in brief: we bought a car, our designation has been decided, Celia’s parents are coming for a visit October 5-22, and Keith turned 30. We’ve had a couple of concerts, now we’re preparing for others.
***

Waiting for… ?

It was a very hot summer. Looking back at our last newsletter, I (Celia) see that we called the summer up to that point “relatively cool.” Ironic, that. In Japanese, we use the word 夏バテ (natsubate), meaning summer fatigue, to describe our reaction to extended periods of hot weather. By mid-September, with temperatures still in the 30’s (upper 80’s F), I felt fatigued. Our fourth floor west-facing apartment, with windows only on the west side, was frequently 5 degrees hotter than outside, with no breeze. Seattle-born Hokkaido resident that I am, I started to feel desperate.

At the same time, a number of other things happened. Both of us moved on to more advanced coursework with more vocabulary to learn, more homework, and less possibility to practice what we are learning in everyday conversations. Then we bought a car--unfortunately before we quite knew what we were getting into, the previous owner moved to another country... right when the laws changed, making it impossible to transfer ownership by the method we thought we would use. Two months on, the car still legally belongs to the previous owner. On top of all this, there were concerts to prepare for.

Keith models our new-to-us Subaru Forester during a drive along the Sea of Japan

There are perks to having a car, such as going to nice places like Furano and drinking nice coffee outdoors with friends.

One recent concert was a charity concert for relief work as part of our church's festival.

Sometimes I fall into the trap of thinking “Things will be better after __.” The weather has cooled down quite a bit, and my daily class load dropped to 2 hours instead of 3, but the car issues still linger, as do the rehearsals and other preparations for concerts, not to mention the constant state of uncleanliness in our apartment. Back in June, we were waking up at night worried about getting driver’s licenses. What will the next major stress be? Whatever it is, I hope it doesn’t come until after my Christmas concerts are over. Tasks and stressors finish just in time for others to begin. That’s a missionary’s life; it will never be stress-free.

I remember back when we first arrived, a little over a year ago. My prayer request every week at our OMF prayer meeting was to get my life under control. A year later, my life is still out of control. I began to think that perhaps I’m looking in the wrong places for a happy and low-stress life.

Lately my Bible study group has started studying the Gospel of John. As we worked through the first chapter, I was struck again and again by God’s desire to reveal himself to us--through Creation, through the Scriptures, and ultimately through sending his Son, Jesus. All these gifts point us to our God, who knows us and wants us to know him. I’ve started to intentionally pause in the middle of my everyday mess to consider how God wants to reveal himself to me. Where do I see him working? Where do I see evidence of his love and provision? I’ve become convinced that the key to having peace and joy in our life right now is to actively look for God.

Even if my life is out of control, I shouldn’t wait until things get “better” to love and serve God and to enjoy my life. On hot summer evenings, we would go out on the balcony with a glass of iced mugicha or homemade ume soda and watch the sunset. In the student lounge at school, we laugh together about our language mishaps. We sing together with our friends at church, listening with delight as our voices blend with theirs. We eat meals with friends, sharing our joys and sorrows and supporting each other in prayer. At these times and many others, I see evidence of God’s love for us. He is certainly with us, revealing himself in all sorts of everyday situations.
***

Japanese Church and Ultimate Frisbee

It has been over three years since Celia and I had our first experience of Japanese church. We arrived early by bike, said our ohayo gozaimasu greetings, and found a seat somewhere in the middle to wait for church to begin. There were about 25 attending that day, which is an average size for a congregation in Japan. At the appropriate time, someone went up to the front and began the service (I later found out this job is called 司会 shikai--master of ceremonies). I, of course, had no idea what he said, but from his posture and demeanor, I assumed something very serious was about to take place. As we progressed through the service, we received similarly formal announcements throughout. Everything took about twice as long as I thought it should including the prayers, children's message, and especially the announcements that continued on for the same length as the sermon (this is not an exaggeration, both typically ran 30 minutes long).

On that first day, I figured this church could really benefit from my seminary training, so I began to write down my recommendations for improving the church service. First, shorten the announcements: five minutes or less. Second, scale down the shikai: he doesn't have to announce everything. Suffice it to say that I had others. The missionary pastor, Tony Schmidt, was very generous in listening to me. No, he didn’t mention that he has had over 30 years of Japanese church experience compared to my 3 hours; instead he encouraged me to continue to think about Japanese church critically. And over these last 3 years, I have come to see how naive I was.

Basically, I didn’t like the formality of the Japanese church. In Japan, however, there is great importance placed on beginnings and endings, and if something is to be done properly, there is a procedure that must be followed. By way of explaining this aspect of Japanese culture, let me share about the opportunity I had a couple of months ago to participate in an ultimate frisbee tournament. It was described to me as a low key event, so when I got there I was a little surprised to see that I had already been assigned to one of the four teams. After I paid the registration fee, I received a program for the day, and then we stood lined up by team for 5 minutes until it was the right time to start. At the appropriate time, a representative went to the front and announced the beginning of the tournament and proceeded to give a speech about working together to keep a good team spirit. Throughout the day, I heard several similar speeches. The peculiar thing was that everyone knew that the decorum and the speeches were cheesy, and from the very beginning there was good-natured razzing of the representatives: 「さすが代表さま」, 「よくできました」, 「やりすぎないよ」 which would be like saying “now that’s how you start a tournament,” “couldn’t have said it better,” “don’t go overboard now.” Other people were joking among themselves not even paying attention. Despite this lack of seriousness, the program was followed precisely as it was planned from start to finish. At the end, there was even a ceremony for the winning team with an accompanying certificate.

Whether it’s a church service, company meeting, tea ceremony, or sports tournament, following procedure brings about the comfort and harmony which are an integral part of Japanese culture. My recommendations for a faster, smoother church service would be to take out the very elements that make Japanese church distinctively Japanese. After three years, I find the more I learn about Japanese culture, the more I realize how little I know.
***

Prayer Points

• Praise God that our designation has been decided. We will be training at a church near Sapporo starting in March 2013. We will give more details as soon as the decision has been officially announced.
• Celia's parents are coming for a 2 1/2 week visit starting Oct. 5. One of those weeks we will be on vacation around Hokkaido. Please pray for safe travels and for our time together. We still have a fair bit of planning to do for this vacation as well, so please pray that we can sort out hotels and places to visit so that we can truly enjoy our time off.
• Please pray for our October 14th concert, in which Keith, Celia, and Celia's father will be joining the choir, and Celia will be playing the viola da gamba. We will be performing sacred Baroque music from Germany; a Japanese translation will be provided. May the music and text speak truth to the singers and listeners alike.
• At the end of July,  we were able to purchase a suitable vehicle at a very good price. However, we are still struggling through transferring ownership of the car. The process has been made complicated by the fact that the previous owner has moved out of the country, and we need her to sign documents and such. Please pray for us to have patience and that we can keep this whole matter in proper perspective and not be stressed by it.
• We continue in praise and prayer for Celia's participation in Sapporo's Baroque Collegium and preparation for Christmas concert (starting November 23!) and for Keith's involvement in Sapporo Symphony's Choir. Please pray that we can find time to practice along with our Japanese study.
• Celia will be going back to Miyako, Iwate prefecture October 25-29 for relief work, this time with a team consisting of her shamisen teacher, her teacher's husband, and 3 other people from their church. Please pray that the team will get along well, that they will have safety in travel, that they can be a blessing to the people of Iwate and the missionaries working there, and that each of them will grow closer to God.

***

Engrish of the Month

Celia found this little gem on a walk.

***

Thanks so much for praying. May the Lord bless you and keep you.

Love in Christ, Keith and Celia

Look how much I grew!

Fall Concerts

We've got a couple of concerts coming up this fall... the first one is next week! I've been busy preparing introductions for each of the songs with my Japanese teacher, as a first "assignment" in a course dedicated to sermons and other public speaking. It's next Monday, September 17, 1:00 p.m. at Kita-Hiroshima church, as part of our church's bazaar. We will be raising money for ongoing relief work. Keith and I will perform together, and present stories and pictures from our time doing relief work in Miyako and Ishinomaki.

The second concert is Sunday, October 14 at 7:15 p.m. at Kitara concert hall, small hall. (If you want tickets, they are 2000 yen, and you can get them from us.) We'll be performing German baroque works (mostly sacred) on period instruments. I will be playing viola da gamba, and Keith, my dad, and I will be in the chorus. (I offered to sing and play at the same time, but it looks like I'll be doing one at a time... ;)

We would appreciate your prayers as we prepare--not only for good practices and performances, but also for the friendships we are forming along the way!

Cultural Education Journal: Another Umeboshi Post!

Well, they're done. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it! Not trying to toot my own horn or anything, but even though I'm supposed to let them age for another 4 months or so, they're delicious, so I can't help but eat some right away... and it's been despicably hot here. Umeboshi are the only thing that make me feel better some days. :)

Here's some photos of the process from start to finish.

Actually, the beginning of the process was talking to my teachers at school and to the ladies at church. They provided me with all kinds of recipes and information. For some women, making umeboshi is a yearly ritual, something they learned from their mothers and hope to pass on to their daughters or daughters-in-law. It's become rather rare for women of my generation to go to all this trouble, when you can buy umeboshi in the store. But there's just something wonderful about homemade umeboshi... or any kind of homemade pickle.

I bought about 5 kg of ume plums. They smelled heavenly, similar to apricots. I had to wait about a week until they ripened fully. Since the ume have to be absolutely perfect--no blemishes whatsoever, or they might mold--I used the less than perfect ones to make ume syrup, which makes a delicious soda when added to sparkling water. (And then we liked the ume syrup so much that we started keeping watch for sale-ume at the store and made a second batch... :)

Ripening ume plums

Ume syrup in progress

The ripened plums were sprinkled with salt (lots and lots of salt!) and arranged in a giant pickling crock, and then I put about 7 kg of weights on top.

The purpose of the weights is to get the plums to release their juices. Of course the salt is also crucial to this process too. I think with 13% salt and more than 2x the weight of the plums set on top, it only took about 36 hours for the plum juices (ume-su) to rise above the top of the plums. Then I reduced to a single 2 kg weight.

The next step is to wait and wait. I went on vacation and came back... and then waited some more. I think it was only supposed to be about 2 weeks, but I couldn't find large quantities of red shiso or shin-shouga (young ginger). Eventually I did. (And I discovered a great grocery store in the process--Hokuren Shop sells lots of local stuff, including gorgeous locally grown beets that you usually can't find in Japan! But they will also special order stuff at no extra charge. Yay for great veggies and great customer service!)

The next step was to salt the red shiso and squeeze out the excess juices, then mix with some of the ume-su. Finally, the shiso and ginger are layered back into the pickling crock on top of the plums to add flavor and color.

And then we wait a bit longer... for some good weather, since the ume and shiso are sun-dried to give them a nice texture and improve the flavor. Finally we had nice weather... and then it rained and rained. So I put them out for one day, but then they went back in the crock in the ume-su again for another week or so while I waited for the weather to clear up.

Finally, we had a few sunny days in the forecast! (I'm laughing to remember how I hoped for hot weather, given the last several weeks... thankful that it's raining today!!) The ume dried in the sun for about 4 more days. Usually it would have been 3 total, but because our balcony is quite narrow, they only got about 3-4 hours of direct sunlight/day.

Shiso is in the foreground; the ume are covered to prevent bug-attack.

The before picture: the ume are still quite plump and light colored.

The after picture: shriveled and sparkly with salt crystals.

Finally I gathered them up and put them in a pickle jar to wait until New Year's. The flavor will continue to improve for the next 5 years or so, according to my Japanese friends.

Only I couldn't wait. I've been sampling them with some regularity...

Ah, delicious umeboshi!

If you're interested in knowing more about the process in more detail (in English), try this site. My process was slightly different--higher salt content (13%), heavier weights, shiso added later in the process, addition of shin-shouga, and longer drying time.

待つこと

This is a short devotion I (Keith) prepared for Japanese class about waiting.

私たちはみんな毎日何回も「待つ」ということをしなければなりませんね。好きな番組が始まるまでとか電車の出発を待つとかいう場合が多いですね。でも、一番大変なのは長い間待たなければならないことだと思います。すでに１年日本に住んでいますが、実は２年前には、いつ日本に行けるかわからないやきもきした状態でした。そのつらい１年間毎日毎日日本に行きたいと思っていましたが、待たなければなりませんでした。そんな中、ある日聖書のモーセの話を読んで考えました（出エジプト2章）。モーセは最初に自分からイスラエルのリーダーを志しましたが、すぐにはなることができませんでした。なぜなら、モーセのやり方と神様のやり方は違うので、まずモーセの心の準備が必要でした。

モーセは４０年間待ちました。そのことを読んだら、「えー、そんなに長く待たなくちゃならないの？私にはできない」と思いました。でも、モーセのように私も心の準備が必要でした。モーセの40年間のように私の1年間が過ぎました。その間、私のすべて、住まいとか仕事とか特にお金のこととかを神様に頼るようになりました。そして神様は私の信頼に本当に答えてくださいました。今は日本語学校の卒業を待っていますが、実は待っているのではなく、神様と共にいるので、待つことは準備することになります。聖書にこのような助言が書いてあります。「機会を十分に生かして用いなさい（エペソ５：１６）」。つまり、人の一生は毎分、大切で意味があるということです。

July Newsletter

Seasons

 

Keith and Celia Olson

Newsletter #18

July 18, 2012

Dear Friends and Family, 

We’ve been enjoying a relatively cool summer in Sapporo, which is particularly a blessing considering our apartment averages 5-10 degrees warmer than outside. This July marks our first year in Japan as full time missionaries, and we continue to feel overwhelmed by thankfulness for everyone who has helped us to get here and who continues to support us month by month. We wish we could send each of you an individual message accompanied with a hug, but time and distance prevent this, so we must be content with methods such as Facebook. Please know that we value you and any messages, pictures, prayers, or Skittles that you send our way. This month also marks our seventh wedding anniversary, which we celebrated in Yamagata prefecture, where we got rained on, sun-burnt, onsen-boiled, and stuffed with tons of Japanese delicacies; in short, it was a very successful endeavor. We were also able to spend time with the Takahashi family, our friends from Seattle who were visiting their home church.

Celebrated seventh anniversary at a traditional Japanese hotel with very, very good food.

with our Seattle/Yamagata friends

 

Aside from that, our concerts (Celia’s viola da gamba concert and Keith’s choir concert) at the end of May went well, and we continue with rehearsals for our upcoming concerts in the fall. We are always surprised to see how much Japanese people loosen up at the after concert parties.

Celia is much more easily seen at her concerts than Keith is at his.

We have also successfully booked and passed our written and driving tests, and we have both received our Japanese driver’s licenses after a few sleepless nights and over 20 hours of waiting, filling out forms, and more waiting. And as always we have our language classes...

***

The Long Haul

I (Celia) confess that as we were thinking about this newsletter, I was not very excited to write it. The way we write these takes a significant amount of time--it’s important to us to go beyond a blow-by-blow of what’s been happening in our lives to reflect on what we are learning and experiencing. However, the subjects of our “reflection pieces” are often our struggles and feelings of weakness and inadequacy. I just couldn’t face another one of those this time around. But those sorts of essays will certainly continue, probably for the next 30 years or so. I’m praying they will be punctuated by success stories occasionally.

 

We’ve been in Japan almost a year now; a year ago at this time we were midway through orientation course in Singapore. Also, at the end of the month, it will have been 3 years since we arrived in Japan for the first time. As I look back, I’m still surprised at how God worked in my life to gently nudge me in the direction of Japan--had you told me even 5 years ago that I would become a missionary, I would have laughed. But here I am in Japan, and I’m incredibly thankful for that.

 

I read the following during my quiet time yesterday: “Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven't stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you'll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us” (Colossians 1:9-12, The Message).

 

It’s not enough that we have followed God’s leading and obeyed by coming to Japan. Every day I’m pondering what it means for God to be Lord of my life. Recently what that means for me is to be still before God and listen, to see what he is doing. That’s how I will get the “strength to stick it out over the long haul.”

 

It seems that the 1 year we’ve been here has gone by incredibly fast... and yet incredibly slowly, as language school drags on and on. We struggle with wanting to be finished with study (by the time we finish, I will have studied for 12 years of formal education beyond high school) and at the same time, balancing that desire with the knowledge that this is our best opportunity to learn Japanese, even if it’s rather like drinking from a fire hose.

 

This year our language skill have improved in a big way. Last Sunday we heard a sermon from a pastor who had been advising our church (Lighthouse) when we were short-termers. Last time we heard him preach, we didn’t understand him at all, but this time, we understood most of it! We’ve also had numerous opportunities to develop friendships with Japanese and learn about Japanese culture. And we even got Japanese driver’s licenses!

 

This year we have seen God at work in our church, in our friends, and in us. There have been many challenges, but the ways God has united us as a couple in the midst of these challenges reminds us that he will continue to provide for and protect us for the long haul. I praise God we are able to be in Japan and participate in God’s work here.

***


Prayer Points

• We thank God for our completed first year and pray for many more to come.
• Our concerts at the end of May went well. Pray for our preparation for our church mini-concert (Celia on cello and viola da gamba and Keith on piano) on September 17, and for a concert on October 14 where Celia’s father, Celia, and Keith will join the Baroque Collegium in singing a number of sacred German baroque pieces.
• We give thanks for our dear friend Mikiko and her son, Yugo, who will be moving away to Ghana to be with her husband, Curtis, and his family for a time. It has been very encouraging to see Mikiko’s faith grow over the years, and we will miss her and Yugo a lot..

We will miss these guys

• During July 26-29, Celia will be attending the Viola da Gamba Society of Japan Summer Seminar. Pray that she can make contacts, for her Japanese skills, and that Keith will be able to feed himself while Celia is away.  
• The OMF field council has suggested a church for us to attend where we will work and further our training after language school. Later this month we are going to meet with the pastor and our regional director. Please pray as we discuss what roles we could play in this church and how the pastor would be able to disciple us. 

***

Engrish of the Month

One rainy day out of the window of our bus, we saw the WonderGOO store. I'm not sure what they're selling, but there was only one car in the parking lot...

***

Seeds

Sometime in March, I (Keith) was fishing out seeds from my grapefruit when I came across one that had a little root extending from it. One of our winter horticultural experiments had just failed, so I thought I might as well try planting this in that soil to see what grows. Nothing happened for weeks. As you can see by the pictures, eventually it broke soil, and now our four month old grapefruit plant is starting to resemble a little tree. It’s been pretty exciting to see it grow, but it will take ten years before it is able to produce fruit if at all.

I can understand why the theme of planting seeds is used so much throughout the Bible. Certainly it feels like I’ve been watering certain seeds for a while without seeing anything break through the soil, and it makes me wonder if there is any seed at all. I have another friend that makes me wonder if it will take ten years before he starts to bear fruit in his life. Much like the grapefruit tree, however, I can do nothing to grow the plant, which is a good thing because if the growth was entirely dependent upon my evangelistic and discipling skills, these people would have no hope. The good news is that God gives the growth, and all I do is give a little water and sit back and wait, sometimes in patient excitement and sometimes, well, not. Regardless, God is doing his work, in His perfect timing.

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. (1 Corinthians 3:5-9)

According to Paul, we have the privilege to be alongside God as fellow workers, yet our role is actually quite minute when compared to His, and I’m glad to let Him handle the impossible bits of growing the seed.

***

 May the Lord bless you and keep you. Thanks for your prayers in this first year and beyond.

Love in Christ, Keith and Celia